West Papua: Reports of shooting in Paniai

JUBI, 17 August 2011

On 17 August, at 1.55 am, there was the sound of gunfire in Pagepota and Uwibutu, two kampungs that are not far from Madi, the capital of the district of Paniai. There were no reports of any casualties, however.

From another source in Paniai, it was reported that at 5am, armed
civilian groups believed to be part of the TPN/OPM were using two
locations in the vicinity of Madi as their base from which to attack the Indonesian army and police based in Madi. This is near the building in which the DPRD Paniai has its office.

As a result of the fact that the areas are now under the control of
armed civilian groups, people living in Madi are unable to travel
anywhere because it is through these areas that people travel back and forth from Madi to Enaro and Bibida.

The gunfire stopped for a while but was heard again between 5am and 7am, then at 9.30am and then later in Enarotali.

Two days earlier, spokesmen for the Synod of the KINGMI Church and the Catholic Church in Paniai said that they were very worried about the security situation in Paniai during the past few days. They said that reports of armed conflict between the TPN/OPM and the security forces have worried the population and some people have even decided to leave their homes in search of somewhere safer.

ENDS

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